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The Newest Balkan Sobranie

I am shocked and somewhat disgusted to just see that Pipestud.com is selling this crap for $48+ a tin for the current production. I have a nearly full tin that's been sitting in my cellar for about 3 years because, 1) It's unbalanced and tastes nothing like Balkan Sobranie 2) This is one of the "Re-releases' that has nothing to do with the original and is just selling the name. It's not a good smoke on it's own. I wonder if I can sell this crap to Pipestud. lol Well, it's an opened tin, though. I'd gladly give it away to anyway that really likes it and would really smoke it. Sorry that I think it's total garbage.

But Zach, tell us what you really think... To be fair the $48 tin was from 2012, the current tins were selling for $40 (maybe a difference without a distinction). Many experienced smokers have talked about some of the tobacco's that are better, and closer to the original BS than the newer Germain's made product. White Knight comes immediately to mind.

That being said, I would never pay (nor have I paid) more than regular retail for the Germain's product. It does become available from time to time...though I haven't really looked for it in a while.

Hey I understand supply and demand. Sure, but the pricing is all over and is just pulled from a hat. 23 year old tins of McCranie's for $16 and then 1 year old tins of phony Sobranie for $40. But hey, I'm not faulting the guy. I should go buy all the tins at my B&M and sell them to him is what I'm saying. Let me buy an Ardor pipe from selling 5 tins to him. I'm ok with that.

The Newest Balkan Sobranie

It's been about 5 years since I actually bought a tin but I remember not being impressed. I bought it for $12 so it was no big loss. The problem is, I bet Pipe Stud sells out if that stuff quick, even at that price. That name is so hyped that it gets stuck in people's heads so the shit sells even though it's not even a decent mixture and has nothing to do with the original, it's the zombie trademark running amok. It's like this weird sort of brain muscle memory disorder, people see the name, Balkan Sobronie and suddenly they're possessed to buy buy buy.... brag brag brag.... and then the disappointment sets in... thankfully we don't see it happen much at all on this forum.

Yeah, agreed. I loosely brought this up based on something the other day with Ally mentioning people just profiting from upselling tobacco on ebay.
I may just go home and smoke a bowl of it tonight to see if 3 years old and bone dry in an open tin is any better!

Seriously though, I'm half serious about calling my B&Ms, asking about if they still having any tins, and buying them all if Pipestud says he'll buy them. For that matter, I could upsell all the aged tins to him and make a lot of money. But hey.

Hey I understand supply and demand. Sure, but the pricing is all over and is just pulled from a hat. 23 year old tins of McCranie's for $16 and then 1 year old tins of phony Sobranie for $40. But hey, I'm not faulting the guy. I should go buy all the tins at my B&M and sell them to him is what I'm saying. Let me buy an Ardor pipe from selling 5 tins to him. I'm ok with that.

You'd make out better on the 'bay so you wouldn't have to forfeit the consignment fee.

I personally think that Arango has done a poor job with the Germain-produced tobacco by overdistributing them, giving tins to far too many cigar-centric type shops who are more prone to take advantage of crazy demand levels, it is very tempting for shop-owners and shop-workers alike to go grey market because the monetary incentive is very high.

I can't really explain how this sad situation has developed, when I first started I could get all the "lesser" Esoterica with no problem, I had Tilbury coming out the ying-yang as it was an early favorite, but nowadays everything in the Germain line-up is prone to a feeding frenzy, and the hostile political climate of threatened new regulations just amplifies the whole situation.

I personally think that Arango has done a poor job with the Germain-produced tobacco by overdistributing them, giving tins to far too many cigar-centric type shops who are more prone to take advantage of crazy demand levels, it is very tempting for shop-owners and shop-workers alike to go grey market because the monetary incentive is very high.

I can't really explain how this sad situation has developed, when I first started I could get all the "lesser" Esoterica with no problem, I had Tilbury coming out the ying-yang as it was an early favorite, but nowadays everything in the Germain line-up is prone to a feeding frenzy, and the hostile political climate of threatened new regulations just amplifies the whole situation.

I remember those days man. Only Penzance and Stonehaven were selling out fast and the rest of the lineup was pretty much in stock all the time but it was still pretty easy to get your hands on those two. Dunbar, Dorchester and Tilbury were hardly a thing back then. Now it's hard finding even lesser known blends in the line up in stock.